Tabulating machine



Oct. 28 1924.

L. E. HUBBARD TABULATING MACHINE Filed May lO 1922 3 Sheds-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. MM

M A TTORNEYS.

1,513,396 L. E. HUBBARD v TABULATING MACHINE Filed may 1o 1922 s'sheets-sheet 2 14, ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 28, 1924."

r L. E. HUBBARD TABULATING IACHINE Filed May 10, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 5HF l IN V EN TOR.

BYA

I LM., YWML fifi., A TTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 28, 1924.

UNITED STATES LAWRENCE EBV'IN HUBBABD, OF TORONTO, 'TAIBULATINGHACHINECOMPANY, OF

OF NEW JERSEY.

ONTARIO, CANADA, ASSIGNOB TO THE ENDICOTT, NEW YORK, A CORPORATIONTABULATING HACB'JIN E.

Application mea 'nay 1o, 1922. serian No. 559,728.

To all 'whom z't may concern.'

B'e it known that I, LAWRENCE ERVIN HUBBARD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Toronto, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tabulatin Machines,of which the following is a fu l, clear, and'exact description.

In the tabulating of statistlcal data 1t 1s now the common practice touse tabulatin machines which are adapted to take o records fromperforated cards. In operations of Ithis sort, the individual cards areperforated or punched in different locations to denote the desiredrecord items. These items may represent amounts, group numbers, classes,numbers of workmen, wages due, and, in fact, any desired data which isdesired to be recorded or accumulated. These cards, after being sorted,are placed in tabulating machines which advance the successive cardstherethrough and accumulate the aggregates of certain items and indicateor otherwise display the classifying group numbers. After the tabulationof a group is completed it is the common practice to terminate orsuspend the tabulating operation, take a reading either visually or bysuitable recording means, reset one or more of the tabulator counters orregisters to zero and then initiate a new tabulating operation. Thetermination of the tabulating operation is usually controlled by aso-called stop card and in certain instances by automatic controldevices which are controlled from the be index points of the cardsdesignating the group numbers. The initiation of a new tabulating cycleautomatically has heretofore been proposed b-ut such devices are notadaptable to control an ordinary tabulating machine to permit anextended reading interval between operations which may be varied to suitdifferent operating conditions.

The present invention is directed to the rovision of a single attachmentfor a tabu- 4ating machine which will permit the machine to suspendoperations at the end of a tabulating operation for a short timeinterval to permit a reading to be taken and thereafter to cause themachine to recommence tabulating automatically.

Further' objects reside in the provision of a device of this characterso arranged that the reading or dwell time may be adjusted to meet theexigencies of a particular tabulatin operation or to corres ond with theskill, ack of skill, or speed ticular o erator of the machine.

Whilet einvention finds particular utility in connection withnon-printing tabulators, lts use 1s not limited to machines of this typeand the attachment may be applied to printing tabulators.

Other objects and advantages will be hereafter pointed out in theaccompanying specication and claims and ings in which:

ig. 1 shows a front view of a tabulator to which the attachment may beapplied.

Figs. 2 and 3 are details controlling means which controls the period ofdwell or hesitation .between two tabulating operations.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showin the electric circuits and certainmechanical details of the machine.

The present invention will be explained with particular reference t-oFig. 4 which shows a diagrammatic view of a Hollerith tabulatorembodying my invention. In this view counters and B are of the typeusually used in tabulators of this class and the counter A is utilizedfor group indicating purposes and the counter B is utilized foraccumulating. It will be understood that any number of counters may beused as desired. In Fig. l, for example, live counters, A, B, C, D, E,are shown.

`In order that the present invention will clearly understood a briefdescription will be given of the main features of the tabulator shown inFig. 4. In this gure, 10 designates a stack of record cards which arefed one by one through upper and lower feed rolls 11 and 12 pastcooperating brushes 13 and contact blocks 14. The usual card lever 24 isprovided which upon the passage of cards is adapted to close the cardcontacts 25. The gearing for rotating the feed rolls is shownconventionally at 18. This gearing receives its drive from a shaft 20which, by a belt and pulley connection is driven by tabulator motor 21.A shaft 22 forms the main drive shaft to the tabulator counters and isshown broken away in the upper part of Fig. 4 and extended intocooperation with the two tabulator counters in the lower part of thegure. A similar shaft 23 driven in unison with the cardA feeding devicesoperates a number of cam o any par- I shown in the draw-- of the relayand contact devices 32, 33 and 34. These cam contact devices are thoseusually used in tabulators of this class. The cam contact combination 32is the so-called motor cam which interrupts the circuit to stop themachine. The make and break combinations 34, 33 control the card brushcircuits.

To start the .tabulator in operation the operator places a number ofcards in the stack and then closes switch26 which establishes circuitsto the current supply mains. The start ke. 27 is now depresse Currentiows from t e source through line 28, start key 27, motor relay 29,tabulator motor 21 through emergency stop keyA 30, now closed, and backto lother side of line. The tabulator motor now rotates. Coincidentlywith the establishment of the aforementioned circuit through motor rela.29 a second circuit is established throng a line 60 and a so-calledhesitation rela 61 and back to the other side of line throug the stopkey. The energization of the relay 61 opens up the so-called resettingcircuit for theresetting motor of the tabulator 'and prevents resettinguntil certain other conditions arise. The energization of the motorrelay29 also establishes a holding circuit which permits the release of thestart key 27. This circuit maybe traced as follows:

through line 28, cam contact combinationA 32, now closed, wire 31,armature of relay 29, relay magnet 29 and back to the other sidev of theline through the path previously traced. The tabulator is now inoperation and as the `perforations in the cards successively pass underthe controlling brushes thecounter magnets 44 are energized there- `byattracting their armatures .45 and releasing the clutch levers v46 whichare actuated to engage the clutches 48 in the manner described in thepatent to Lake No. 1,307,-

7 40. The items from the cards are then accumulated or indicated on the,counters in the usual manner. During this tabulating operation and solongas cards are passing through the machine and card lever contactsareclosed, motor control relay magnet 37 and counter control relaymagnet-36 will be energized; The attraction of the armature of motor controlrelay 37 establishes another holding circuit for the tabulator motorthrough a line 38 and the armature of relay 29 and through the pathpreviously traced. This holding circuit maintains the tabulator inoperation when the cam contacts 32 break once per card cycle. Thepurpose of the cam contacts 32 is to interrupt thetabulatingoperation'upon the deenergization ofthe motor control relay 37after the last card-has passed through the machine and permittedcontacts 25 to open.

Theenergization of counter control relay 36 attracts its armatureandcloses a circuit 40 supplied from the make and break contacts 33, 34..From Wire 40 current' Hows.

through the armature of relay 36, thence through line 41 to the commonbrush bar l ing of cam contacts 32 the other holding4 circuit throughthe armature of relay 29 vis interrupted and this relay is deenergizedthereby bringing the tabulator motor 21 to a stop.

' Upon the stoppage of the tabulator motor Y the operator may read thetotals or other designating numbers from the tabulator counter wheels. Areading ofthe tabulator counters is then to be taken, thereafter thecounters are to be reset and a new tabulating operation upon a new cardgroup) commenced. In order tol provide a suificient interval of time forthe reading of the counters prior to the resetting, and the initiationof a new tabulating cycle, the hesitation or dwell relay 61 is provided.The armature 62 of this relay is connected through a link 63 to a piston64 which is .mounted to move back and forth in a cylinder 65 (see Fig.3). Upon the attraction of the armature 62 the piston 64 may moverapidly upward in the cylinder 65 by reason of a small check valve 66.Upon the deenergization of the magnet 61, the piston 64, together withits interconnected armature, descends slowly by gravity. The dash potdevice constitutes a means .associated with the relay for maintaining aperiod of dwell durin which the tabulator is at rest.

The lengt ,of time required for its de-4 scent and the re-establishmentof the circuit of contacts 67'may be varied by `means of the adjustingscrews 68. The time of descent of the dash pot piston and its interconnected armatureA is suiicient to'permitthe operator of thetabulator to read and write down on a suitable record the readings fromthe tabulator counters. f This time is entirely independent of any timesofv the operation ofthe tabulator or of the resetting` means therefor.Upon thereclosure of contact 67 a resetting circuit is established whichis-traced as follows, on Fig. 4. Switch 69 having been previously closedcurrent flows from source to binder -post lil through switch 69, wire70, armature 62, contacts 67, wire 71,' binder post R3, reset magnet 72,binder post R4, reset motor 7 3, binder post R5 and back to source. .Theenergigation of magnet 72 energiz the magnetically controlled resetclutch 74 and clutches motor 83 tothe resettingvshaft 75 of thetabulator. The energization o'ma net 72 also closes contacts 76 whichesta lishes another circuit to binder post Rs and to magnet 72. Thiscircuit is only necessary when switch 69 is opened and the resettinginitiated by the depression of the reset key 77. The reset motor circuitslightly later in the cycle is taken over by cam contact devices 78which short-circuits the magnet 72 and interrupts the reset motorcircuit at the end of the reset cycle. The magnetically controlledclutch 74 is of the usual one revolution type and insures the shaft 75making exactly one revolution in resetting. Just before reset cycle isoompleted the cam contacts 79 are closed, thereby establishing a circuitfrom binder post R1 through cam contacts 79, binder post R2 to motorrelay 29. The establishment of this circuit automatically restarts thetabulator in its tabulating operation as previously described. Thisrestarting of the tabulator energizes the hesitation magnet 6L and opensthe contacts 67, hence preventin any further resetting until thetabulating o this new group of cards is again completed. In diagrammaticFig. 4, magnet 72 is shown in full line position and in dotted lineposition. This method of illustrating is utilized for sake of clearnessin the wiring diagram. In other words, the magnet 72 both controls thereset clutch 74 and also controls the contacts 76. v

What I claim isey 1.. An attachment for a tabulating machine having theusual counters and means for driving and resetting the same, saidattachment comprising in combination, means for interrupting thetabulating operation at the end of a card group, means independent ofspeed of operation of the tabulatin or resettin means for maintaining adwe inthe positionof the counters to permit a reading to be takentherefrom of the Ydwell to permit a reading to be taken, and

means controlled by said relay for automatically initiating a newtabulating operation.

3. The invention set forth in claim 2 in which means is provided forvarying the time of dwell in which readings are to be taken.

4. 'An attachment for a tabulating machine having the usual counters anddriving and resetting means therefor, means for interrupting thetabulating operation at the end of a card group, in combinationtherewith, means operating independently of the timing or speed of thetabulator driving means or resetting means for maintaining a period ofdwell in the tabulating operations for a determined period to permitcounter readings to be taken, means for varying the time of said dwell,means for automatically initiating a new tabulating operation after saiddetermined period of dwell.

5. The invention set forth in claim 4 in which means is provided forautomatically effecting a resetting of the tabulator counters to lzeroafter the taking of a reading and prior to the initiation of alnewtabulating cycle.

6. The invention set forth. in claim 4 in LAWRENCE ERVIN HUBBARD.

